Another year another Hip Hop Grammys thread…
This year is an interesting one, with multiple narratives and potential controversies surrounding “Music’s Biggest Night”. Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny becomes the first artist to have a Spanish-language album nominated for the prestigious Album Of The Year. R&B legend Mary J. Blige receives her very first Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year nominations for ’Good Morning Gorgeous’ and it’s title track. Pop sensation Harry Styles continues his unprecedented string of accolades with nominations in both Album and Record Of The Year for ‘Harry’s House’ and ‘As It Was’ respectively. But the most dynamic of showdowns irrefutably comes down to two of music’s biggest names; Beyonce and Adele. In a rematch of sorts of the 2017 awards, titans Beyonce and Adele are once again pitted against each other in the top three categories; Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Album Of The Year. Adele controversially walked away with all three awards on that fateful night in 2017, and in 2023 both artists are again heavily favored to be the top contenders for each award. So with all of these potential storylines and intrigues, one might ask themselves, “Where does Hip Hop fit in?”
This year, one of Hip Hop’s most celebrated figures returns to the nominations bracket, Kendrick Lamar. The 13 time Grammy winner is up for an additional 8 awards (second only to Beyonce’s 9) including three in the general categories. After being shut out of the 2013 awards ceremony in a universally maligned manner (even one of his competitors admitted his victory over K.Dot was fraudulent Macklemore to Kendrick After Grammys: 'You Got Robbed') Kendrick has went onto have a stunning streak of success, sweeping the rap categories with every subsequent solo album. However, even he has failed to break Hip Hop’s TWENTY YEAR LONG drought of winning the night’s top prize. That’s right folks, despite critically acclaimed and commercially successful releases from the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Drake, Cardi B, Lil Wayne, and Kendrick himself; no Hip Hop act has won AOTY since Outkast’s sprawling opus ’Speakerboxx/The Love Below’ back in 2004! The other three general categories have treated Hip Hop a tad better, Megan Thee Stallion became the first female rapper since Lauryn Hill (back in 98) to win Best New Artist during the 2021 ceremony. Hip Hop’s very own renaissance man Childish Gambino (AKA Donald Glover) became the first rapper to win both Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year in 2019 for the fiery, combustible single ‘This Is America‘ .
This go round, Kendrick’s album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is nominated for AOTY (his 4th time in a row) against the aforementioned Beyonce and Adele. He also collected nominations in both ROTY and SOTY for MMM&TBS first single ‘The Heart Part 5’. He is pitted against both Beyonce and Adele in these categories, and DJ and rap music curator Khaled joins Lamar in the SOTY category for the epic ‘God Did’ (featuring Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and Jay-Z). Lamar is also nominated for Best Music Video as well as in all 4 rap categories.
Will Kendrick Lamar sweep the rap categories for a third straight album cycle? Does he have what it takes to surpass music’s most famous divas in AOTY? Could he perhaps be triumphant in Record Of The Year or Song Of The Year?
These and other questions will be answered this coming Sunday, February 5th, from 7:00pm-10:30pm EST. On CBS.
This year is an interesting one, with multiple narratives and potential controversies surrounding “Music’s Biggest Night”. Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny becomes the first artist to have a Spanish-language album nominated for the prestigious Album Of The Year. R&B legend Mary J. Blige receives her very first Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year nominations for ’Good Morning Gorgeous’ and it’s title track. Pop sensation Harry Styles continues his unprecedented string of accolades with nominations in both Album and Record Of The Year for ‘Harry’s House’ and ‘As It Was’ respectively. But the most dynamic of showdowns irrefutably comes down to two of music’s biggest names; Beyonce and Adele. In a rematch of sorts of the 2017 awards, titans Beyonce and Adele are once again pitted against each other in the top three categories; Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Album Of The Year. Adele controversially walked away with all three awards on that fateful night in 2017, and in 2023 both artists are again heavily favored to be the top contenders for each award. So with all of these potential storylines and intrigues, one might ask themselves, “Where does Hip Hop fit in?”
This year, one of Hip Hop’s most celebrated figures returns to the nominations bracket, Kendrick Lamar. The 13 time Grammy winner is up for an additional 8 awards (second only to Beyonce’s 9) including three in the general categories. After being shut out of the 2013 awards ceremony in a universally maligned manner (even one of his competitors admitted his victory over K.Dot was fraudulent Macklemore to Kendrick After Grammys: 'You Got Robbed') Kendrick has went onto have a stunning streak of success, sweeping the rap categories with every subsequent solo album. However, even he has failed to break Hip Hop’s TWENTY YEAR LONG drought of winning the night’s top prize. That’s right folks, despite critically acclaimed and commercially successful releases from the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Drake, Cardi B, Lil Wayne, and Kendrick himself; no Hip Hop act has won AOTY since Outkast’s sprawling opus ’Speakerboxx/The Love Below’ back in 2004! The other three general categories have treated Hip Hop a tad better, Megan Thee Stallion became the first female rapper since Lauryn Hill (back in 98) to win Best New Artist during the 2021 ceremony. Hip Hop’s very own renaissance man Childish Gambino (AKA Donald Glover) became the first rapper to win both Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year in 2019 for the fiery, combustible single ‘This Is America‘ .
This go round, Kendrick’s album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is nominated for AOTY (his 4th time in a row) against the aforementioned Beyonce and Adele. He also collected nominations in both ROTY and SOTY for MMM&TBS first single ‘The Heart Part 5’. He is pitted against both Beyonce and Adele in these categories, and DJ and rap music curator Khaled joins Lamar in the SOTY category for the epic ‘God Did’ (featuring Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and Jay-Z). Lamar is also nominated for Best Music Video as well as in all 4 rap categories.
Will Kendrick Lamar sweep the rap categories for a third straight album cycle? Does he have what it takes to surpass music’s most famous divas in AOTY? Could he perhaps be triumphant in Record Of The Year or Song Of The Year?
These and other questions will be answered this coming Sunday, February 5th, from 7:00pm-10:30pm EST. On CBS.
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